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10 Of The Worst Natural Disasters In African History
A natural disaster is a serious undesired event resulting from natural processes of the earth; Examples are floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and other geological processes. Although they are called natural disasters because no human directly ignites them, many of them can be traced to the indirect or variable consequences of human activities on earth.
Natural disasters are almost as old as the world itself. They hit when least expected, costing lives and property on a grand scale. While some of these catastrophes pass over time, others remain simply unforgettable due to their severity and massive impact on humanity. Here are the tops
The 10 deadliest natural disasters that have rocked parts of the African continent.
Drought in East Africa – 2011
A sustained absence of rain that began in late 2010 took its toll when, between July 2011 and mid-2012, a severe and massive drought hit the entire East African region, particularly Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. The drought, which has been described as “the worst in 60 years,” plunged East Africa into the worst food crisis Africa has faced in several decades. Somalia was one of the hardest hit areas, and food and water became extremely scarce in the region. The coincidence of failed rains, high food prices, and regional conflict created a “deadly combination” for the region at the time. The United Nations has declared parts of southern Somalia official famine zones. Nearly three million Somalis needed medical assistance in the summer. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 people, more than half of whom were children under the age of five, died as a result of famine.
Nabro volcanic eruption – 2011
A volcano erupted in the southern Red Sea of Eritrea, in 2011. It was the Nabro stratovolcano that erupted on June 12, spewing ash hundreds of kilometers away. The adverse effects of volcanic ash increased reports of livestock mortality, migration, critical water shortages, human health problems, and increasing malnutrition in the worst affected woredas [districts]: Bidu, Afdera, Erebti, Elidar, Teru, and Kori. As of June 20, eight villages in Ethiopia’s Biddu district were covered in volcanic ash, affecting at least 5,000 people and polluting springs and streams. The ash plume from the eruption reached heights that disrupted air travel in the region.
See – Climate change: The 10 most shocking effects on your daily life
South Africa floods – 2010-2011
A devastating flood hit South Africa in early 2011, after a series of heavy rains that lasted several weeks. The flood was also associated with the then-dominant La Niña global weather pattern. Botswana was particularly hard hit, receiving 75 percent of its annual rainfall in just three days. The flood claimed around 500 lives and more than 6,000 people were displaced or evacuated. The devastating effects of the flood were the closure of 630 schools and 42 health units (including the Beira Central Hospital, the second largest in the country).
Mozambique floods – 2000
The Mozambique floods took place in the early months of 2000. Over the course of the months of February and March, much of Africa experienced incredibly heavy rainfall. Floods soon spread across the country, and 800 people died due to the unrelenting rain. The damage was immense, with land and homes lost across the country. The floods were the worst the country had suffered in fifty years.
The damage included all affected areasalmost completely destroyed. Farmland and crops that villages relied on for survival submerged in the waters. Many families were left completely without food or clean water. Hundreds died of starvation and over forty health posts were completely destroyed, including the second largest in Mozambique.
Irrigation systems were ruined throughout the country, which was one of the main reasons for the loss of agriculture. Over one hundred thousand peasant families had lost their livelihood, nearly fifteen hundred square kilometers of land were almost destroyed. But not only the harvest was damaged. Twenty thousand cows were either scared away by the flood or died of disease shortly thereafter. In the aftermath, $450 million was needed to rebuild after all the damage.
Toro earthquake – 1966
While most past earthquakes have not, the 1966 Toro earthquake caused as much damage in Africa as in other parts of the world, and was particularly devastating for Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On March 20, 1966, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the border between the two countries south of Lake Albert in 3-5 minutes. The quake was so violent that the effects were felt as far away as Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya. The initial tremor killed more than 157 people: 104 in Uganda, 1 in Tanzania and 52 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, in the coming months, more people died as a result of aftershocks (notably on May 18 of the same year, which killed 90 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Famine in Ethiopia – 1983-1985
A widespread famine struck the inhabitants of present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1983 to 1985. The famine was Ethiopia’s worst in five decades. The two-year famine claimed around 400,000 lives. In addition to hundreds of thousands dead, millions were displaced and left destitute. Ethiopia’s economy is based on agriculture: almost half of GDP, 60% of exports and 80% of total employment come from agriculture. That was the reason why the drought severely and fatally affected people’s lives.
Before the famine, two decades of wars of national liberation and other anti-government conflicts had erupted across Ethiopia and Eritrea. As a result of the conflict, the effects of the drought were deadlier than ever. Parched landscape, bare hills – tired and weakened men, women and children gathered in places where they thought they could find food. Thousands died every week.
Agadir earthquake – 1960
An extremely devastating earthquake struck Agadir, a city in western Morocco on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean on Monday February 29, 1960. It was believed that most of Agadir’s ‘new town’ consisted of Founti, Kasbah, Yachech and the densely populated Talborjt -Neighborhoods were hit the hardest and were completely destroyed, killing more than 95 percent of the people in those areas. Although it was a very brief tremor, lasting barely 15 seconds, around 12,000 people died (about a third of the city’s population at the time) and another 12,000 were injured, leaving at least 35,000 people homeless in what was the most destructive and deadliest earthquake in Moroccan history .
In general, it can be concluded that the Agadir earthquake of February 29, 1960 was one of the most devastating earthquakes of all time. Within a few seconds and covering an area of just a few square kilometers, most of the city of Agadir was completely destroyed and over a third of its citizens were killed. The total number of casualties will never be known as thousands of bodies could not be recovered from the rubble. A reasonable estimate, however, was that at least 12,000 people were killed and 12,000 injured.
Earthquake in Crete – 365 AD
The AD 365 Crete earthquake was an underwater earthquake that occurred around sunrise on July 21, 365 in the eastern Mediterranean Sea with a suspected epicenter near Crete. Geologists estimate the quake was an 8 or higher on the Richter scale, causing widespread destruction in central and southern Greece, northern Libya, Egypt, Cyprus and Sicily. On Crete almost all cities were destroyed.
The Crete earthquake was followed by a tsunami that devastated the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, particularly Libya, Alexandria and the Nile Delta, killing thousands and throwing ships 3 km inland. The tsunami of 365 AD was so devastating that the numerous writers of the time referred to the event and the anniversary of the catastrophe in their works, which was observed annually in Alexandria at the end of the 6th century as the “Day of Horrors”.
In fact, natural disasters can destroy a beautiful city in an instant.
